El Dobro
Top Post Dawg
I guess someone thought it was a PITA enough to come up with a tool like that.
Why does VW use threaded wheel hubs instead of wheel studs.
- Thread starter elro
- Start date
MayorDJQ
Top Post Dawg
$12 for a threaded piece of plastic? I wonder if it comes with a Jump To Conclusions Matt.
A 6" wooden dowel of appropriate diameter would accomplish the same thing, and probably cost less than a dollar from a hardware store.
A 6" wooden dowel of appropriate diameter would accomplish the same thing, and probably cost less than a dollar from a hardware store.
77 K20
Veteran Member
The OEM Audi ones are plastic- and can snap off making it difficult to remove. The ECS ones are metal.
They did come in handy when I had aftermarket rims on my S4.
They did come in handy when I had aftermarket rims on my S4.
Powder Hound
Top Post Dawg
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- TDI
- '00 Golf 4dr White 5sp, '02 Jettachero 5sp, Wife's '03 NB Platinum Gray auto(!)
I just made my own from 4" M14x1.5 bolts - just cut the head off and there you go. Less than half the cost. The only trick is that sometimes the bolts are hard to source.
T_D_I_POWER
Top Post Dawg
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- '04 VW PASSAT GLS TDI '06 Audi A4 q Avant 6-Spd Sport Pkg
Wouldn't it be cheaper to buy an M14 x 1.5 x 4-6" L bolt from the harware store and cut or grind off the hex head?77 K20 said:
77 K20
Veteran Member
Yes- but for me they were Christmas presents. I must have been good that year.
Ski in NC
Top Post Dawg
Studs and nuts are probably a few more manufacturing steps. And higher part count. Herds of engineers do nothing but find cheaper ways to do things, this is probably one of them. If so, wonder why gm does not. They are the masters of cheapening...
TurbinePower
Veteran Member
There's always an element of "well this is the way we've always done it" that's probably very strong with GM. Nobody's thought about it long enough to question it yet, that's all.
T_D_I_POWER
Top Post Dawg
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- '04 VW PASSAT GLS TDI '06 Audi A4 q Avant 6-Spd Sport Pkg
Can't beat that.Yes- but for me they were Christmas presents. I must have been good that year.
john.jackson9213
Top Post Dawg
oilhammer;3181658 <snip> I have probably owned 50+ Volkswagens said:
Outrider6
Veteran Member
Way back from the dead...
The one issue that I had with bolts comes from having the hex face of the bolts rounded off by an idiot at the tire store who likely used an oversized "standard" socket and way too much force. I spent about three hours grinding through the head of the bolt. This is particularly hard to do with allow wheels which form an aluminum tube around the bolt.
Nobody will accept responsibility for over-torquing bolts or for using the wrong sockets. (And you may be a thousand miles and many months away from the source when you discover the problem...) I keep a few good wheel bolts in each of my cars just to avoid related complications...
The one issue that I had with bolts comes from having the hex face of the bolts rounded off by an idiot at the tire store who likely used an oversized "standard" socket and way too much force. I spent about three hours grinding through the head of the bolt. This is particularly hard to do with allow wheels which form an aluminum tube around the bolt.
Nobody will accept responsibility for over-torquing bolts or for using the wrong sockets. (And you may be a thousand miles and many months away from the source when you discover the problem...) I keep a few good wheel bolts in each of my cars just to avoid related complications...
Dunno513
Veteran Member
Thats the easy part... its lining up the wheel with the hole before you start.It's really not that hard to hold the wheel with one hand while threading one bolt in with the other one. I've been doing it for almost 30 years and never had a problem
The trick here is to pull up the emergency brake first since the problem of lining up the holes is with the rear wheels on our FWD vehicles. The fronts are easy.... put on the wheel and spin it till it lines up...(just make sure manual trans are in gear) but the rear hub will spin so unless that e-brake is on.. or you have the tool or homemade version lining up the hole is a bit tricky. And last thing you want to do is cross thread a wheel bolt.
BlindViper
Veteran Member
I noticed after doing the timing belt/clutch job on a a4 that some of the bolts are the right thread for the "alignment tool". So I cut the head of off and gave them to the cars owner who was constantly *****ing while trying to line the wheels up.
Good idea.
GoFaster
Moderator at Large
If you are jacking up any corner of a vehicle ... you had better be making sure none of the wheels are going to roll anyway.
I wouldn't even think of jacking up a corner without the transmission in gear and the parking brake on, which means the hub will not spin when you spin the wheel into the correct orientation to line up a bolt hole.
Be safe, make sure the car can not roll away before you jack it off the ground!
noob_tl
Veteran Member
Looking around my workshop for something to use as a tool to align the wheel to the hub, I discovered that a piece of 1/4" iron pipe works perfectly. The male pipe threads actually fit the threaded holes in the hub, and screws in about half way by hand! It's a very cheap and simple solution for those of us that prefer to have something to hang the wheel on. This 3" long pipe nipple is going in the spare tire well...
Powder Hound
Top Post Dawg
- Joined
- Oct 25, 1999
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- Under a Bridge, Crestview, FL, USA
- TDI
- '00 Golf 4dr White 5sp, '02 Jettachero 5sp, Wife's '03 NB Platinum Gray auto(!)
Holy necrothreads, Batman!
Just find a 14x1.5 bolt, about 4" (100mm) long, cut the head off, and you've got a great tool for mounting wheels. Better than an iffy pipe nipple.
Cheers,
PH
Just find a 14x1.5 bolt, about 4" (100mm) long, cut the head off, and you've got a great tool for mounting wheels. Better than an iffy pipe nipple.
Cheers,
PH
noob_tl
Veteran Member
There's nothing iffy about the pipe nipple. It threads easily and securely about 1/2" into the hub, and nothing has to be cut off to use it. Best of all, it was free.
Jetta_Pilot
Top Post Dawg
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Agree, just go to an auto wrecker and buy two bolts, my god how much can they cost?
Metric bolts and pipe threads are not the same!
Lightflyer1
Top Post Dawg
Or just buy the right tool.
Bought these years ago with my first VW.
Bought these years ago with my first VW.